AUGUST 3 • 2023 | 21
A
s disconcerting as
it may feel to be set
up with someone
who’s totally wrong for you,
worse yet is to be written off
as incompatible before you’ve
even gone out. If Maureen
Greenwald had listened to her
friend instead of her heart, she
wouldn’t have gotten together
with Lenny Schiffman, who’s
been her husband for almost
50 years.
In 1961, Maureen Greenwald
was 11 years old and taking
classes at the Julie Adler
School of Dance on Wyoming
in Detroit. A fellow dancing
student invited her over and
suggested they sit on the front
porch to wait for a particular
good-looking boy to pass by.
Indeed, Lenny Schiffman,
then 13, walked by and made
the girls day when he stopped
to chat with them. Maureen
learned that he would be going
to Mumford High School;
she was planning to attend
Ferndale High School.
Hoping for more of Lenny,
Maureen went to her new
friend’s house again the
following week, and had
another good schmooze with
him, but after he left, things
quickly went downhill.
“My friend and I had a
disagreement; that was the
last time I went to her house,”
Maureen said.
Still, even though they’d
only met each other fleetingly,
Lenny and Maureen stuck out
in each other’s memories. Any
time Maureen met someone
from Mumford she asked if
they knew Lenny; any time
Lenny met someone from
Ferndale, he asked if they knew
her.
Time marched on and they
lost track of each other. After
high school, Lenny earned
a B.A. in special education
and a master’s in vocational
rehabilitation, and Maureen
earned a B.A. in education
from Wayne State.
In January 1975, Maureen’s
friend Randee moved in with
her. It turned out Randee’s
fiance’s best friend was Lenny
Schiffman.
“Oh, my gosh, I knew
him when I was 11!
What’s he like now?”
Maureen, then age 25,
asked Randee. “She
answered, “Oh, he’s not
your type at all.”
Not easily deflated,
Maureen insisted, “But
what’s he like?”
“Well, he has long
hair —”
“I like guys with
long hair!” Maureen
said enthusiastically.
“He has a moustache —”
“That’s OK with me!”
“He plays guitar —”
“So do I!”
“
And he always carries a tape
deck with him wherever he
goes …”
Maureen was interested. “He
sounds just like my type! Give
me his phone number!”
Maureen called Lenny the
very next day; he invited her
over and they caught up.
“We quickly realized
we didn’t want to be with
anyone else,” Maureen
said.
Five months later,
Maureen happened to
overhear Lenny talking
to a friend.
“Oh, you’re getting
married soon? That’s
nice,” Lenny said into the
phone. “So are Maureen
and I.”
Just one thing: He hadn’t
asked her!
Laughing, Maureen poked
her head in the room to say,
“Um, what did you just say?”
“We’re getting married.”
“When?” Maureen asked.
“I guess in a couple of
months.”
Both sets of parents were
thrilled. In July 1975, the
couple married at Adat
Shalom, the same place Lenny
had his bar mitzvah 14 years
earlier. In 1986, they welcomed
son Corey and, 13 years later,
they celebrated his bar mitzvah
at Adat Shalom, too!
Lenny was a special ed
teacher and was awarded
Teacher of the Year for the
State of Michigan in 2005.
Maureen taught at Temple
Emanu-El in Oak Park and
then worked as a children’s
entertainer for 30 years. Now
both are retired; Maureen still
enjoys her puppets and music
with their six grandsons.
As much as things have
changed, some things never
do: Lenny still has hair halfway
down his back and hasn’t cut
it in more than 20 years. He
also still plays guitar (as well as
other instruments), but there’s
definitely no need to carry
around a tape deck anymore.
This column will appear biweekly. If
you’d like to share your ‘meet-cute’
story, email burstynwithjoy@hotmail.com.
OUR COMMUNITY
‘Totally
My Type’
ROCHEL BURSTYN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
HOW WE MET
LEFT, FROM TOP: Lenny and
Maureen Schiffman. Lenny and
Maureen’s wedding photo.
Lenny,
Maureen
and son,
Corey